Apparatus for keeping accounts



(No Model.)

M. H. ROBERTS. APPARATUS FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS.

No. 580,899. Patented Apr. 20, 1897.

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Witness es: Y Inventor:

M. 17. 7Z05erts. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILTON HENRY ROBERTS, OF OAKES, NORTH DAKOTA.

APPARATUS FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,899, dated April20, 1897.

. Application filed August 26,1895 Serial No. 560,588. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON HENRY R013- ERTs,of Oakes, Dickey county,North Dakota, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus forKeeping Accounts, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for keeping accounts,its object being to provide adjustable receptacles, alphabeticallyarranged, for statement or account cards, and so constructed that theycan be readily manipulated in use and placed in a safe when not in use.

To this end my invention consists in the features of constructionhereinafter particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a plan View of a drawer fitted with my improved apparatus, one ofthe receptacles being removed; and Fig. 2 is a detail of a receptacle soremoved.

In the drawings, A representsa drawer, such as is ordinarily arrangedunder the counters in stores, which is divided into three compartments5, 6, and 7 by means of the transverse partitions 8 and 9, the front andmiddle compartments 5 and 6 being of like dimensions.

B is a removable receptacle adapted to be fitted into one of thecompartments, the receptacles being shown of such size that two willfill the compartment as a matter of convenience in use. Through thebottom of the drawer and centrally arranged under each of thereceptacles B is a hand-hole 10, by means of which the receptacle can bethrust upward out of the drawer to assist in removing it from thedrawer. The top of the partition 8 is inscribed with the letters of thealphabet, as shown in Fig. 1. The receptacles B have their front andrear walls provided with a series of vertical channels 11, adapted toreceive removable partitions 12, by means of which the receptacle may besubdivided into compartments, running longitudinally of the drawer, ofvariable sizes. These compartments are so adjusted and the letters ofthe alphabet so arranged upon the partition 8 that the letters willseverally refer to the compartments in the receptacles on both sides ofthe partition-8.

The receptacles marked 1 and 2 are arranged at the front of the drawerand are designed to receive the active statement-cards, or those onwhich the accounts are being kept. The receptacles numbered 3 and 4 aredesigned to receive the filled or completed account-cards similarlyarranged and referred to by corresponding letters of the alphabet, whilethe compartment 7 at the rear of the drawer is designed as a receptaclefor blank cards or those not in use.

The apparatus is used as follows: The accounts of customers, instead ofbeing kept in books, are written upon suitable cards, and these areplaced severally in the proper compartments in the front set ofreceptacles, so that in order to procure any particular card or refer toan account it is necessary simply to open the drawer sufficiently todisclose the first series of receptacles. The cards can then be removed,the proper entries made upon them, and restored to their propercompartments. The statement-cards, when filled or completed, aretransferred to the next set of receptacles for storage, and the blankcards, or those not in use, can be stored in the rear compartment of thedrawer.

At the close of business the receptacles are designed to be removed fromthe drawer and placed in the safe for fire protection. This is done bypulling the drawer outward, thrusting the hand through the hand-hole l0,and pushing the receptacle upward out of the drawer, when it can begrasped and entirely removed therefrom.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the class described, thecompartment-drawer, the partition between the compartments beinginscribed with an alphabetical index, the removable receptacles havingclosed bottoms and fitted to said compartments, and the adjustabletransverse partitions in said receptacles subdividing the same intospaces adjacent and proportioned to the letters of said index to receivestatement-cards.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, the drawerhaving fixed com- [0 cards, and corresponding in position to the lettersof the adjacent index, and the cardstorage compartment in the rear ofsaid receptacles.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MILTON HENRY ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

E. G. BALDWIN, H. E. BLY.

